Re: Moving a hard drive w/ a Gateway-installed OEM Windows XP to a new mobo -- PCTECH

Chuck wrote:

   4. Re: Moving a hard drive w/ a Gateway-installed OEM Windows    XP
      to a new mobo (Chuck Lewis)

Who did you work for Tom and what did you do there ?

-----Original Message-----
<snip>
And I see later comments that discuss CDs tied to manufacturers...
those make some sense (having worked a couple years for one of those
manufacturers).


Chuck:

I worked 3 years for NEC/Packard Bell in Sacramento as a systems
programmer. The Packard Bell brand was a department-store IBM clone
rather than a brand sold in computer stores. Not terrible, not good.

Cheap and easy to get hold of at its beginning. Built for people whohad no real idea why they wanted a "computer" in the house so they'dbe unwilling to speak to a serious computer equipment salesperson.Probably got too successful too fast; they got way behind in tryingto keep up with support calls from the mass marketing businessmodel. Then the Northridge earthquake clobbered their SouthernCalifornia support center and plant. They'd started a slowimprovement, but pretty much got knocked out for good from that (inthe U.S.A. at least).

NEC, of course, is NEC. (Man, you shoulda seen some of their GOODstuff! Never did see some of their incredible monitors outside ofthe main headquarters building.) Intriguing contrast between the two-- low priced consumer PCs and higher priced NECs.

Quite a data center. The main developer area just outside had some100 RPG developers plus a bunch of PC and network people. Themanufacturing plant was huge; the largest PC manufacturing facilityin the world at the time.


They'd moved everything up to Sacramento after the quake, trying get

their support problems worked out. But they couldn't ever recoverafter the quake destroyed even the progress they'd started. Alreadyin a economic recovery mode, then earthquake crumples buildings,then get it all going again in a new location. Just getting theparts moving down the line necessarily introduced more problems asthings sorted into place. Every task had to be completed on tightschedules, no margin for error, not to mention almost no profitmargin anyway. Naturally when any little thing went wrong, itmagnified greatly.


My work was systems work covering Y2K and preparing for the plant

conversion. There was no way to remain associated with the name"Packard Bell" in the U.S., so the whole business model was droppedand they converted over to 'white box' manufacturing. Most funproject was setting up for Circuit City kiosks linking directly backinto our AS/400 systems, letting customers enter/track orders. I'dnever done any sockets stuff before. But then, I still knew moreabout TCP/IP than the AS/400 developers at that time. Got our sideup and running weeks before CC got theirs going. (And they weregiving us their specs for their protocols.)

I left at the end of January 2000. Y2K went past cleanly and thewhole business was set to change starting in February. Bymid-December, I'd already agreed to a new job where I am now. AFAIK,the plant is now churning out various kinds of OEM boxes forwhatever company wants them.

If nothing else, I got to be involved with discussions about whatit's like for PC manufacturers who wanted to do anything that MSdidn't like. Quite a different side from the general perspective uphere around Seattle.


Tom Liotta